This phrase means that Deborah was a mother in regard to all the Israelites, a woman who gave her all to save her people, who took their needs to heart and identified with them, and who by her motherly devotion and vigorous leadership aroused her compatriots and infused them with a new spirit.
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7 The villagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.